Chapter 2: Flight

Flight

First I sorted my “knowledge”. It seemed that this world greatly resembled the otome game that was called 『Falling in Love on the Silver Wings』──or more commonly abbreviated as 『Silver Love』.

Otome game……I didn’t really understand it but, it was a game that was like an illustrated story. In that game world, it had a story of the main character supporting or getting supported a man or even several men simultaneously to ensnare them. I couldn’t believe that such person could really exist, but according to that woman’s “knowledge”, that 『main character(heroine)』 was 『me』.

Alicia……it was my name and also the name of the heroine of the game. In the game she had a family name but it changed after she was adopted by a noble house. It seemed Okaa-san was a noble’s daughter. She fell in love with Otou-san who was a knight apprentice and eloped with him. That was what the “knowledge” was telling me.

That was why a noble’s blood was flowing inside me and I had noble relatives, that was why if I felt like it then I might be able to live a better life than now. If it was the me from before who didn’t know anything, I would feel scared against nobles who were like an out of reach existence to me, but I would also hold a longing to live like a princess.

But……I had obtained “knowledge” now. In my opinion, the way nobles lived made me felt terrified rather than longing, and more than that I perceived them as a troublesome existence. And even before that, I had no intention of living a live that was controlled by the “fate” of the so called otome game that was greatly admired by that woman.

It seemed that woman completely believed that this world was a 『world of game』, but from where I stood, such world felt impossible realistically.

I am “I”. I’m not a game character. I’m a human living in this world.

I’ll oppose fate and survive till the end even if I’m alone. I also had obtained the necessary “knowledge” for that.

Actually I believed that I should confirm the content of that otome game to some degree in order to not get involved with it too. But, perhaps I wouldn’t be able to obtain that part of knowledge unless I implanted the magic stone where that woman’s knowledge and personality were copied into my heart, because the knowledge regarding that woman’s “previous life” was vague in my mind.

Perhaps when I gave my all to reject that woman, I unconsciously repelled the part that was intrinsic to that woman, and perhaps that was why I was unable to obtain the knowledge in that field. But, even if I wanted to obtain that knowledge now, I had already broke that magic stone and threw it into a gutter. And even if it wasn’t broken, I would never wish to touch that thing ever again.

Even so when I tried compensate for the vague game knowledge with the knowledge of other stories to make sense of it, I was able to imagine the story although only roughly.

The cheerful, kind, and hardworking 『heroine』 was actually the daughter between a noble’s daughter and knight apprentice who was born after they eloped. After her parents died from monsters’ rampage, she lived in church as an orphan.

Various things happened and she got found by noble, then she enrolled into the academy where the noble children went to, got close with the prince or his followers, then got bullied by the 『villainess』 who was the prince’s fiancée, but the heroine would receive divine protection from dungeon or went in an adventure, and after going through this and that there would be a happy end. It was a very nonsensical story.

……What a nonsense. Human could live even without becoming noble or marrying with the prince.

I would never admit to even god that I was born for the sake of 『such nonsense』.

For the time being I decided to head to the neighboring town that was in that woman’s “knowledge”. In that woman’s “knowledge”, it seemed this world was called Ciel and we were located in a major nation called Claydale that was located somewhere in Thurs continent. This region where I lived was a baron territory located at the northernmost of Claydale Kingdom, but that woman didn’t remember the minor details like this region’s name.

I was thinking to travel to the neighboring town because this town where I lived until now was like a 『large village』, so if I went to the neighboring town where the feudal lord the baron lived, I believed there would be a lot of places there to hide for someone like me who had murdered people.

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Actually I also wanted to get away from this baron territory before I got found out by noble, but a small child like me wouldn’t be able to go to a long trip. Living in town would be suitable for me, but I would need to pay one silver coin as tax to enter into a large town that was surrounded by wall.

I would also get taxed if I left the baron territory and passed through other territory, so normally commoners would never go to a trip. But there was also method to avoid paying that toll price.

If you properly paid the suitable amount of annual income tax to the feudal lord, you would be able to obtain citizenship and became able to travel to anywhere within the territory. You could also buy peddling right from the merchant guild. A merchant would also get discount when going to other territory.

And then there was the adventurer guild. If you registered there and climbed to high rank, it seemed that you would be able to travel freely within the country. Of course there was no way to suddenly become a high rank adventurer from the start, but even the beginner 『rank 1』 would be able to freely enter and exit the town where they were registered to.

「……Adventurer?」

What was adventurer? When I thought that, knowledge floated up inside my head. 『Adventurer Guild』 was an organization that was derived from the mercenary guild that received support from the merchant guild at the beginning. 『Adventurer』 was a mercenary that specialized in exploration who investigated ruin or unexplored land while eliminating monster or the like solo or with a small group.

But currently they were just outlaws that simply vandalized the ruins or miners that supplied the town with magic stones that could be obtained from monsters. They had completely become what you called 『jack-of-all-trades』, even so high ranked adventurers who were elites who could defeat powerful monsters with few numbers were treated favorably.

Magic stone stored magic power and could be used like 『battery』. In that regard, adventurers who were supplying those magic stones could be considered as a necessary existence. But, to register in the adventurer guild, it seemed that at minimum you needed to have rank 1……『combat skill』 at level 1 or above.

……Skill? Level? I tilted my head in puzzlement again at those terms that easily floated to the surface of my mind while I was thinking. Until now I was just an orphan who didn’t have any knowledge or wisdom, so I didn’t know anything about 『skill』 or 『level』, but I didn’t have time right now so I put off confirming them for later.

For now my objective was to raise a combat skill to 1 and became an adventurer, any skill was fine. The adventurer guild was located at the neighboring town. If it was in that town, there would be hiding place, but there would also be problem if I headed to there just like this.

First right now I was just a seven years old child. Even if I was able to enter the town, there was a high possibility that I would get tricked and sold or killed by bad adult. That was why before entering the town, I needed at least the strength to be able to escape from the likes of thugs. It would be great if I was able to obtain combat skill in the process, but it was uncertain whether I would be able to learn one by just relying on knowledge.

First I should ascertain what the current me was 『able』 and 『unable』 to do. That was why I was considering to hide somewhere at the road that was connecting this rural town and that neighboring town.

It seemed that using horse carriage, you could reach the neighboring town at evening if you departed from early morning. In that case, it would take two days or less by walking. If there was that much distance, there should be a place like a camping site somewhere on the way for sure. In such spot it was highly possible there would be a watering place nearby, so that place would be my first destination.

.

*Goon……goon*──the sound of bell came twice from the town’s clock tower. I was awakened from my half sleep.

That bell was sounded every four hours. It rang once when it was midnight, so the bell just now told me that it was four o’clock in the morning from how it rang twice. The people who worked at farm would wake up from the bell just now, and the citizens would also start working when the bell rang at eight o’clock. The orphans in the church would start work from four o’clock in the morning, but the old hag only woke up when it was eight o’clock, so there should be a bit more time until her death was discovered. I confirmed that the horizon was getting brighter and got out from the forest near the town where I hid. Then I started walking on the path that was heading to the neighboring town.

I didn’t know how far the distance was until the campsite, but surely I would be able to reach it at midnight even with my short legs……that was what I thought, but I underestimated the lack of a child’s stamina too much. I had been walking for four hours since I started……even so I believed that I had worked really hard with this. When the sky was becoming brighter and I heard the bell ringing three times from far away, I finally reached my limit and sat down on the ground.

Thinking calmly, there was no way a kid who had never even gotten fed properly and didn’t have enough sleep could keep walking for many hours. My sight was hazy and there was dull pain pounding inside my head. As expected I judged that this was bad. I let go of my tension and slapped my legs to move and hid myself inside a forest that was several meters away from the road.

I hid myself behind a tree so that I couldn’t be seen from the road, then I took out the leather water flask from my luggage. The water smelled like leather, but my dry throat gulped it down greedily, but then I choked violently, perhaps because of the fruit wine that was mixed with the water to prevent it from going bad.

「──Geho, gehoh」

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I calmed down my breathing once more and put the water into my mouth in small sips. With that my mind regained clarity. At the same time it reminded me of my empty stomach. I took a white bread from among the old hag’s foods that I brought with me. Thinking that I better ate this before mold grew over it, I nibbled on it. Then a nostalgic taste that reminded me of the past with my family came from it.

「…………」

Soft white bread was a high class item. Even when I lived with my family, I could only eat it when there was a celebration, but the me who was even younger than now always looked forward to it eagerly. Otou-san who worked as soldier always apologized to Okaa-san that we couldn’t eat white bread every day, and then Okaa-san would smile and shook her head. I always thought of that exchange as strange, but if Okaa-san was a noble just like in that woman’s knowledge, then I could understand why Otou-san apologized like that.

I felt a bit lonely. To divert my mind from that, I bit off the bread and washed it down with the water from the flask. I felt alive again when my stomach bloated up.

「……ouch」

When I calmed down, I noticed the pain on my feet and grimaced. All the children in the orphanage were barefoot. That was why this was my first time wearing sandal. I wasn’t used to it and my skin chafed. Blood was flowing.

It hurt……but it wasn’t scary. I checked that the wound wasn’t horrible, then I took out a clean cloth from my luggage. I cut it with my knife and created a bandage. I also treated the wound on my hand from my struggle against that woman. I had given it a simple treatment last night, but I took this opportunity to wash it with the fruit wine in the flask before wrapping it with the bandage I created.

……Even though I should be able to do it in the “knowledge”, a child’s fingers were unexpectedly clumsy and it took a lot of time to finish the treatment. But more importantly.

「……I don’t have much water.」

I also used water for the treatment, so my remaining water had decreased a lot. Perhaps because I was concerned with my remaining drinking water, it roused that woman’s “knowledge” to surface. A kid with small body had to drink a lot of water. Perhaps I would be reduced to the state before this again if I didn’t drink enough water. When I pondered what should I do then, it felt like it would be good if I obtain water together with sugar and 『vitamin』 from fruit.

What was this 『vitamin』? Even that woman didn’t really have a deep understanding of it, but surely it was something important. But where could I find that fruit from this forest? Then the “knowledge” surfaced again. When I tried searching around for a bit by relying on that, I found a shrub that reached around my chest with black fruits growing from it.

It was a type of berry. It could be found anywhere in the southern part of the continent where this country was at.

「……sour.」

I picked one, peeled the skin, and licked the juice. The sweetness was thin, the sourness was strong, and it was somewhat astringent. It seemed that the fruit was normally eaten as jam or dried fruit. Even so it wasn’t like it couldn’t be eaten raw. I checked that there was no snake nearby and used a nearby large leaf……toesol grass? I used it as a plate and started picking the berries.

After I finished picking berries, I sorted out my luggage before eating.

The luggage that I brought from the orphanage consisted of several clothes and fabrics, foods, and several coins. The simple cloth I was wearing right now was what usually worn by commoner children. There was no difference between male and female, so it was a bit too big for me, but for the time being it was fine like this.

As for the foods, there was one white bread remaining, then other than that there was dried meat and a block of dried cheese, so if I divided them and ate them bit by bit, I believed they would last for three days. As for the money, including that woman’s possession, I had fifteen silver coins, eight small silver coins, and thirteen bronze coins. The food that I could buy from shop or food stall would cost several bronze coins, and a single silver coin could be used to stay in an inn for three days, so this was quite a lot of money.

The problem was, when I checked the inside of that woman’s bag, there was a bundle of withered grass and two pots that seemed like potion. And then at the bottom there was a small book that looked like a notebook.

「……Curious.」

I got that impression from my “knowledge” when I saw that book. Book was expensive but wasn’t that rare. According to my knowledge, in the past book was made using animal’s leather that was processed to be parchment in this continent at the past, but it was replaced with plant paper since 120 years ago and now such book was becoming the mainstream.

The raw material for that paper was the toesol grass that I used as plate replacement just now. This grass had big leaves and short hairs like downy hair. It was very elastic and since the past it had been used to wipe hands after using restroom. In fact, I once also used it like that, but it was also said that it had no other use than that. This leaf was soft but its fiber was long and even animal wouldn’t eat it other than goat.

A noble in the past hated to use leaf for wiping and ordered an alchemist to research the leaf. That was considered as the beginning of plant paper. When this toesol grass was heated, it would lose its color and became a paper with a faint tinge of yellow remaining. After dozens of years its quality had been improved at the current time. A book that could cost more than ten gold coins in the past had turned cheaper until ten percent of the original price now.

And the reason why I thought this book was 『curious』 was because this book was made from parchment. It seemed to have been reread a lot of times until the parchments were eroded and turned flimsy, but the inside was written with detailed description of medicinal herbs, poisonous plants, and also mushrooms and minerals that could be used as medicine. They were even thoroughly accompanied with illustrations.

I wondered if that woman had that kind of side to her, but apparently she stole this from the personal property of the master she studied magic under. ……That woman, she was really beyond any help.

But I was honestly happy for finding this. I had “knowledge” and I could understand letter when I saw one, but practice was required for writing and reading sentence. This would become a good studying material for me.

The other two potions were apparently also something that woman stole from her teacher. They were healing medicine with very good quality. It seemed that woman planned to use these to heal me after implanting the magic stone into my heart.

Then there was the bundle of withered grasses. The grasses were medicinal herbs. But this one wasn’t anything really great. They were grasses that could be found growing anywhere and often used by ordinary household as common medicine. I took one of them and chewed it in my mouth. It really smell like grass but I endured it and kept chewing. Then I smeared it on my wounds before bandaging them once more.

When I realized, the sun had climbed really high above my head. I felt that I would reach my limit soon in keeping hold of my consciousness, so I stored back my things into the luggage and carried it on my back. Then I used my knife to cut off my hair that I had grown long by that old hag’s order because she wanted to sell it.

.

I greedily devoured the berries that I picked, then I hid myself in a tree’s shadow like a wounded beast trying to heal its wound and silently closed my eyes.

「…………」

I was scared of 『darkness』 before all these. I was scared of『pain』. I was scared of『hunger』 and 『loneliness』. But I was scared of them because I didn’t know of any way to survive.

My eyes cracked open slightly from a faint sound, and swung down my knife on the head of the snake that had approached until my feet. The snake whose head was stabbed wriggled for a while. I continued to stare at the snake that was slowly turning unmoving without any ripple in my emotion.

I felt scared because I didn’t know anything. But, I didn’t fear small pain anymore. Because now I could understand the “knowledge” of how much I could endure and still not die, there was no more reason to feel fear anymore.

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I came to think like that because I obtained dozens of years of knowledge from that woman. But, I didn’t think that I stopped being myself because of that woman’s fault.

I am “I”. I am『Alicia』 and nobody else.

I was thinking of such thing while having a light sleep just for a bit to recover from my body’s fatigue while staying on guard against the surrounding.

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